4 January 2018 - come and see

Today's Readings (Audio)

Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. 

When we sin we relinquish a little control of ourselves to our enemy. We are less able to act in righteousness, having allowed ourselves to be compromised in this way. Rather than remaining open to the righteousness that God gives to us and makes possible in our lives we fall back upon ourselves. Isolated from God, we become subject the the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

We all sin at times. But this is why it is so important to turn to Jesus, the Lamb of God John points out to us, who came to take away sin. He offers us his forgiveness, especially in Confession. The grace of Confession not only makes us right with God but it helps undo any stronghold we've given the enemy by our actions.

"What are you looking for?"
They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher),
"where are you staying?"
He said to them, "Come, and you will see."

Let's follow Jesus away from our sinful past, from all that holds us back from living in righteousness. If we do choose to follow him we will find that we ourselves gradually become more rock solid just as Peter eventually does.

Jesus looked at him and said,
"You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas," which is translated Peter.

At first Peter is no rock. Jesus calls him Satan and tells him to get behind him. He denies Jesus during the Passion. It's true that Peter does give some of himself over to the Devil. But, unlike Judas, he continues to follow Jesus. This is what truly matters. He sins, but this sin can't keep him from the forgiveness of Jesus. And the forgiveness Jesus offers gradually transforms him into someone who denies Jesus to preserve his own life to someone who will even give his life for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel. This is the saving power that the LORD wants to reveal to us today. It isn't about feeling bad about where we have given the Devil strongholds. It's about following Jesus away from those things and into new life.

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.